Some advice for fellow newbies - LR

As a former “newbie”, I would like to offer a little bit of advice to other newbies.  When I first got into medical transcription, I thought that some of the advice given on these boards was a little harsh and sometimes downright nasty.  Without a doubt, there are always going to be some nasty people on message boards, but overall, I think most of the advice given here is well intentioned.  Let me explain a little bit of my story.

I was unemployed for about six months and fed up with office politics when I decided to try medical transcription.  I researched the online schools, but not nearly enough.  I did not know about the MT boards back then.  I went with the cheapest option thinking that I have always been good with independent study and I could “teach myself”.  It was all I could afford and this school boasted that they had job assistance and resume assistance on their home page.  What I received was a box of books and some CD’s.  I studied on my own.  No one EVER reviewed my work.  I took quizzes from the book’s CD and I transcribed reports that I sent to the school at the end of the course.  They then sent me a “certificate of completion” that looks like something I could print on my home computer.  Overall, the course was a joke and I got exactly what I paid for.  I did work and study hard.  While I did not feel prepared to work as an MT, I did the best I could with what I had.  Their idea of resume assistance was having me send in a copy of my updated resume and they said, “Looks good!”  Their idea of job assistance was putting my resume on a job board that they said employers have access to.  I have no way of even verifying that.  So…the moral of that story is, you get what you pay for and the women here that say you need to research the school you choose are probably right.

I tried for months to get a job and then decided the only way I could break into medical transcription with the training I had would be to do an internship.  I tested and PAID $400 for the opportunity to work as an intern.  The company I interned for seemed very nice at first.  They said they would hire me as an IC after a few months if my work was at 98% and they did.  What was the problem?  Well, as an intern the work was plentiful, as an IC, the work dried up.  I stopped seeing all the doctors I used to transcribe for and only saw the most difficult doctors of that same group.  As an intern it would have been easy to get well over 1000 lines a day, as an IC, I was lucky if I could get 500 lines a day, and that meant babysitting my computer from morning to night.  I made less in a month than I previously made in a week at my office job.  After a few months, the paychecks stopped coming.  I have had several e-mail promises of payment, but so far, it looks like I will never see the payment for the last two months.  Therefore, the moral of this story is unless it is a PAID internship with a promise of a decent line rate and work availability in the end, I would avoid internships.  Did I gain good “experience”?  I do not think so…  I mainly did clinic transcription and I still do not have those two years of experience most companies want you to have.

I recently was hired for an office job (Not MT) that starts next week.  While I am very happy that I will be earning a real paycheck and have insurance again, I am a little sick about the fact that I wasted time and money trying to break into the field of medical transcription.  While I did not spend a great deal on the course I took, I did spend a lot of money on books, software, a foot pedal, and several pairs of headphones (trying to find comfortable ones) etcetera…  I also put a lot of time into studying and practicing.  I am sitting here surrounded by two bulletin boards covered in typed notes and sticky notes.  I can bring myself to take them down even though I am almost positive I will never do medical transcription again.  I thought about taking a better course with one of the top two schools, but I am not sure it would be worth it after seeing how others with experience are struggling to find work.  My local community college has discontinued their MT program since they feel it is a dying field.  It certainly seems that most regular GP’s are no longer using MT’s, but rather are using software that they fill in as you sit in their office.  My doctor does and so does the doctors of my family and friends.  I am guessing that surgeons and hospitals may still be using MTs, but I do not know if I could ever perform at the level.  This is not an easy field!  My hat is off to all of the employed, hard working MT’s!  I do not think anyone outside of the field knows what a difficult job you do.  To those of you just starting out or looking into going into this field, DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!